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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/23507656">Learning Experiences</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rosie2009/pseuds/Rosie2009'>Rosie2009</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Descendants Fanfiction [43]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Descendants (Disney Movies), Disney - All Media Types</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Gen</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-04-06</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-04-06</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-01 12:13:37</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>5,382</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/23507656</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rosie2009/pseuds/Rosie2009</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Uma, Audrey, and Jane take Mal and Evie out to the Enchanted Lake to learn how to swim. Let’s just say our two favorite best friends have a very hard time. Friendship feels all around with a special emphasis on Mal and Evie’s sisterly relationship.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Audrey Rose &amp; Uma (Disney), Evie &amp; Audrey Rose (Disney), Evie &amp; Jane (Disney: Descendants), Evie &amp; Mal (Disney), Evie &amp; Uma (Disney), Jane &amp; Audrey Rose (Disney: Descendants), Jane &amp; Mal (Disney: Descendants), Jane &amp; Uma (Disney: Descendants), Mal &amp; Audrey Rose (Disney), Mal &amp; Uma (Disney)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Descendants Fanfiction [43]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1252532</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>24</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Learning Experiences</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>   “Alrighty, ladies, we’re here,” Uma announced as she turned off her motorcycle. Audrey, Jane, Mal, and Evie quickly followed suit, and Uma pushed her kickstand with her heel so that the motorcycle would balance there on the ground. Mal followed her, hesitantly stepping off of the vehicle as she sighed deeply while surveying the Enchanted Lake.</p><p>   Today, Uma, Mal, Evie, Audrey, and Jane had all headed for the Enchanted Lake as a result of Uma’s declaration that Mal and Evie definitely needed to know how to swim. According to Uma, it was a necessary skill that every person should know. Naturally, Audrey and Jane agreed, likely due to the fact that they were already endowed with the ability to swim. Even Evie had agreed to it, wanting desperately to learn a new skill and also fit in with the rest of the group.</p><p>   Mal on the other hand did not have any desire to get anywhere near the water. In fact, if she had her way, she wouldn’t even dip her toe in the wetness. She would much rather sit far away from the water on the embankment surrounding the lake or at the broken-down rock gazebo that was very much solid and definitely not in the water.</p><p>   Originally, Mal did not even want to go, but she couldn’t resist Evie’s positively adorable puppy dog eyes that she always made such great use of when Mal least wanted her to.</p><p>   So Mal was suckered into this horrible trip completely against her will and definitely against her better judgement.</p><p>   “Whoo… It sure is nice to get away from that stuffy castle living,” Uma spoke, stretching her arms out before pulling off her jacket to expose her bikini top. Audrey headed past Uma with Jane right behind her, and Audrey shot the pirate an odd glance. Uma raised an eyebrow, unimpressed.</p><p>   “Well, don’t you agree?” Uma questioned. Audrey just shrugged noncommittally in response, and Uma narrowed her eyes knowingly as she slowly nodded.</p><p>   “Oh, never mind. You’re one of those stuffy princesses that thrives in the stuffy castle living. Forget I said anything,” Uma waved dismissively as she worked her pants off around the bottom half of her bikini. Audrey spun around quickly to face Uma, currently in the process of unbuttoning her shirt.</p><p>   “I am not! I’m just as tough and, uh, unrefined,” Audrey pointed accusingly at Uma, trying her best to insult the pirate’s pride, “as you!”</p><p>   Uma rolled her eyes before carrying her jacket and her pants over to the nearby gazebo and dropping them on the stone floor.</p><p>    “Whatever, princess,” Uma replied, and Audrey just rolled her eyes at the pirate as she headed behind a tree to finish taking off the rest of her clothing so that she could make good use of the bathing suit beneath.</p><p>   Mal just watched the two of them carefully from her vantage point atop the hill. She furrowed her brow, not sure if she was ready for this. However, after a moment, she suddenly felt a warm presence there beside her, and she looked up into the sweet brown eyes of her best friend. Evie tilted her head slightly, eyeing Mal carefully as she regarded her with concern.</p><p>   “Are you okay?” Evie questioned, brushing her hand against Mal’s own as she spoke. Mal shook her head nigh imperceptibly.</p><p>   “Well, I’m about to get in the water, so I’m pretty sure that doesn’t count as okay. At least in my book,” Mal told her, laughing nervously as she watched Uma slip into the water carefully and quietly, no doubt planning to scare Audrey when the pink princess came out from around the tree.</p><p>   “I promise, M, you will be better for the experience. It’ll truly help,” Evie assured her, and Mal looked at Evie skeptically. Evie just offered Mal a slight smile before pulling the faerie against her lovingly.</p><p>   “I’ll be here for you every step of the way. Okay?” Evie asked, and Mal looked at the water from where the side of her head was resting on Evie’s shoulder. She breathed in deeply before exhaling slowly.</p><p>   “Let’s get this over with,” Mal murmured, and she could practically feel Evie’s happiness and enthusiasm inflating once again as she pulled away from Mal. However, she made sure to keep an arm around the faerie.</p><p>   “I’m so excited!”</p><p>   Mal and Evie then started down the hill, before long reaching the gazebo where Jane had left all of their things. The daughter of the Fairy Godmother had just disappeared behind another tree outside of Audrey’s.</p><p>   Having nothing better to do, Mal glanced at Evie, and the bluenette was just looking at the water curiously and somewhat longingly. Evie was so enthralled with this entire endeavor, and Mal was actually quite glad for her best friend that she was actually that happy about the entire ordeal. At least one of them was enjoying this so far.</p><p>   After only a moment more, Audrey rounded the tree and she started to look through the things that Jane had brought for their trip. Mal immediately turned her attentions to where Uma had dived in the water.</p><p>   “So, Evie?”</p><p>   “Yeah?” Evie replied, looking at Audrey instead of the water as she squeezed Mal a bit in her arm’s grip. Mal kept her eyes on what was occurring behind Audrey, seeing that Uma was carefully lifting her upper body out of the water.</p><p>   “Which one of these should I use?” Audrey asked, holding up two different bottles of sunscreen for Evie to see, her back facing the pirate getting out of the water behind her.</p><p>   “What’s the difference between them?” Evie questioned, fully ignoring Uma, and Mal almost laughed as Uma waggled her eyebrows at Mal who was currently her audience as well as inadvertent partner in crime.</p><p>   “This one’s mineral sunscreen, and this one is chemical sunscreen.”</p><p>   “Oh, well, mineral sunscreen is a surface penetrative product that immediately goes into effect as soon as it touches your skin, but it has to be reapplied often. However, chemical sunscreen reaches deeper into your skin and is more permanent, but doesn’t deflect all UV rays,” Evie told her. Uma stopped in her approach for just a moment to make circles with her fingers so that they looked like glasses and she stuck her tongue out, making fun of Evie. Evie’s eyes slightly narrowed, and Mal knew that the bluenette had to see Uma at this point.</p><p>   Audrey opened her mouth, about to ask Evie something else, but Uma suddenly grabbed her around her waist, pulling her backwards, and they both splashed in the water.</p><p>   Mal immediately started to cackle, and Jane peeked around the edge of the tree that she was currently behind. Evie grinned, chuckling at the sight of Audrey who had suddenly reemerged from the water.</p><p>   Audrey was spluttering and coughing, and Uma was laughing hard as she stood up in the water next to the princess. Audrey sat there for a moment, her wet hair clinging to her face as she glared at Uma angrily.</p><p>   Uma finally just shook her head, offering her hand to the princess as she tried to overcome the last of her laughs at Audrey’s expense. Audrey stared at her for a few more moments before very begrudgingly taking her hand. Uma pulled her up with a laugh, and then stepped back onto the stone of the gazebo.</p><p>   “What did you do?!” Jane questioned worriedly as she came out from behind the tree, gazing at the lot of them in worry. Uma just snorted, starting to cackle once again, and Audrey pulled herself up onto the stone with the rest of the group.</p><p>   “I was pulled into the water against my will,” Audrey declared.</p><p>   “Aww, you make it out like I’m some kind of criminal,” Uma pointed out, and Audrey simply shook her head at Uma, deciding not to speak as she proceeded to squirt out the mineral sunscreen in her hands so that she could wipe it on her.</p><p>   Mal just reached over and high-fived Uma, and the pirate beamed, proud of what she had done to Audrey. Evie smiled at the both of them, squeezing Mal affectionately before moving her hand so that she could lace her fingers with Mal’s own.</p><p>   “Now, y’all see? That’s what kind of fun you could be having in the water. Consider that lesson one,” Uma announced to the lot of them.</p><p>   “Shouldn’t the lessons be about <em>how</em> to swim?” Jane uncertainly questioned as Audrey passed the sunscreen over to her. Uma waved a finger at the girl in a scold.</p><p>   “Look here, you let me teach like I teach. This is why I’m the teacher,” Uma pointed out, and Audrey turned her head around to look at the pirate skeptically.</p><p>   “I thought all three of us were teaching them. Who made you the boss?”</p><p>   “I did,” Uma told her dismissively, and Audrey immediately started to argue. But Mal wasn’t really paying attention to them as she hesitantly approached the edge of the water. Evie’s hand was firmly in her own as she relied somewhat on Evie’s confidence and strength to draw this close to the water.</p><p>   All Mal could think about was the two times that she had almost drowned, one of which actually was in this very body of water. Mal swallowed a bit, terrified of the idea of actually getting into water that was actually deeper than simply reaching her knees.</p><p>   “M, it’ll be fine,” Evie’s reassuring voice suddenly sounded nearby her, and Mal looked to her worriedly. Evie squeezed her hand tightly in reassurance as she pulled off her shirt carefully. Mal followed her lead, peeling off her top layer to expose the top part of her one-piece bathing suit. Evie and Mal matched in the way that their bathing suits did not have two pieces, but Evie’s was a pretty blue and Mal’s was a dark shade of purple.</p><p>   Once they were only clad in their bathing suits, Mal sighed deeply, and Evie smiled at her lovingly.</p><p>   “I’ll make sure you don’t drown,” Evie told her sweetly, pulling Mal slightly so that the faerie was facing the bluenette. Mal raised an eyebrow, unable to keep her skepticism at bay despite Evie’s caring words.</p><p>   “How are you going to do that when you can’t swim either?” Mal asked, bringing up a good point. Evie tilted her head slightly, smiling a bit.</p><p>   “Well, I know the theory behind it,” Evie explained, and Mal snorted a bit in response.</p><p>   “But do you know the practice?”</p><p>   “Not entirely, but I do know CPR,” Evie acknowledged, and Mal raised an eyebrow.</p><p>   “The theory or the practice of CPR?” Mal questioned somewhat sassily, and Evie just laughed wholeheartedly before bringing Mal closer into a side-hug.</p><p>   “Alright, now. I’m the boss, and that’s the end of it. Now, let’s go get in the water over here at the shore,” Uma suddenly told them, successfully pulling Mal from her thoughts. Evie gave Mal a tight squeeze before letting her go and starting to follow after Uma, Audrey, and Jane.</p><p>   Audrey had finally decided to stop arguing with Uma, but her sour face indicated that she was very much not over the entire ordeal, despite her lack of vocal protest to Uma’s self-proclaimed position.</p><p>   They strode over to the sandy shore, and Uma stretched her arms, popping her back before turning to the other girls.</p><p>   “Alright, who’s ready?” Uma questioned, and Evie immediately raised her hand overzealously. Uma nodded to the bluenette and she pointed to Audrey. Audrey raised an eyebrow distastefully.</p><p>   “You handle her.”</p><p>   “Whatever you say, bossy,” Audrey complained, subtly jibing at the pirate captain, and Evie headed over to Audrey.</p><p>   “Bossy?”</p><p>   “Oh, I’m sorry. Did I say bossy? I meant boss,” Audrey sarcastically apologized, her voice full of clearly mock sweetness. Uma just rolled her eyes before gesturing to Mal, waving her over as she pushed through the water.</p><p>   Mal swallowed hard, looking over at Evie who was starting to wade in deeper water with Audrey. However, Mal quickly took a deep breath, following Uma. After all, she didn’t want to look like a coward. Especially not in front of Uma.</p><p>   But when she reached the edges of the water, the wetness touching her toes, she wasn’t so sure that she was ready to potentially risk her life just for the sake of learning something that she was already sure that she had no need to know.</p><p>   “You gettin’ in?” Uma questioned, her hips submerged at this point as she turned to face Mal. Mal looked at her with some uncertainty before swallowing hard and stepping in. She almost robotically pushed her legs through, and she could feel what she somehow instinctually knew to be Evie’s gaze on her form.</p><p>   Mal finally made it so that she was mid-thigh deep. It was there that she was frozen and didn’t seem to be able to get much further. Uma furrowed her brow, tilting her head slightly as she watched the faerie. She then sighed and walked over to Mal, taking the purple-haired girl’s wrist in her hand as she pulled gently, guiding her out to the water.</p><p>   “C’mon. It ain’t that hard. You’ll be fine,” Uma expressed somewhat reassuringly, and Mal steeled herself, not aiming on looking weak. Mal pulled her wrist from Uma’s grasp as she determinedly pushed through the water until it reached her midsection. However, she did let Uma keep her hand on her back to guide her. Admittedly, Mal was terrified, and was almost trembling as she waded.</p><p>   “Okay, so I’m going to hold you on the surface of the water, and then we’ll talk about how to move your arms and legs to swim,” Uma explained to the faerie, and Mal jumped at the sound of her voice before shaking her head swiftly. Uma just gazed at her intently.</p><p>   “Hey, I promise I’m not going to let you die. Okay?” Uma told her, and Mal was surprised at the amount of sympathy in the pirate’s gaze. Mal shook her head at Uma.</p><p>   Uma nodded carefully in response before laying out her arms for Mal to presumably rest on.</p><p>   “I don’t know about this, Uma,” Mal spoke, and Uma flexed her fingers a bit.</p><p>   “It’ll be all good. Just do it, okay?” Uma told her, and Mal slowly moved onto Uma’s arms so that she could hold her up.</p><p>   “There. Now, move your arms like your reaching out and scooping the water,” Uma told her, and Mal slowly started to try it, still somewhat worried that Uma might drop her. However, once she was mostly confident that the pirate wasn’t going to pull off any cruel tricks, Mal started to move faster. Uma kept her held firmly in place the entire time, and Mal actually was feeling slightly less afraid. But it was only because someone was keeping her from drowning.</p><p>   “Good. Just start kicking your legs at the same time, and you’re golden,” Uma instructed, and Mal obeyed her instructions, once again following them slowly before picking up speed. She soon found that she was moving a little and she quickly froze as she looked up to see that Uma was moving with her.</p><p>   “Keep going. It’s fine,” Uma assured her, and Mal continued.</p><p>   “Make sure you move your head to the side and get breaths periodically,” Uma explained. Mal complied easily, and Uma immediately made a noise of approval.</p><p>   “Excellent,” Uma praised, and Mal kept going for a little longer, her confidence growing slightly with every movement.</p><p>   “Alrighty. Now… I’m going to let you go,” Uma instructed carefully, and Mal suddenly panicked, hanging onto Uma’s arms as she forwent all swimming.</p><p>   “No! No, Uma, you’d better not let me go!”</p><p>   “I gotta let you go so you can learn,” Uma told her with a slight laugh, and Mal shook her head adamantly.</p><p>   “You can’t do that, I’ll drown!!!” Mal screeched, and Uma rolled her eyes.</p><p>   “Good grief. Don’t be such a drama queen,” Uma told her, and Mal clung onto Uma’s arms in a constricting hold.</p><p>   “Woah, woah, calm down,” Evie’s reassuring voice suddenly sounded off, and Mal felt herself being moved so that she was upright. Mal immediately grabbed onto Evie tightly, grounding herself in the midst of the water.</p><p>   “What’s the problem?”</p><p>   “She’s going to let me loose in the water by myself with no help!” Mal cried, and Uma groaned.</p><p>   “Well, duh. You have to do that if you’re going to learn anything,” Uma explained herself, and Evie sighed as she looked to Mal.</p><p>   “Come on, M. Uma knows what she’s doing. You need to know how to swim,” Evie told her, and Mal shook her head in a nigh panic.</p><p>   “No, I do not! There is no need for me to know how to swim because I never get in water!” Mal protested, and Evie immediately started to argue gently yet firmly.</p><p>   Audrey from her position in the somewhat deep water that she had been in with Evie just huffed as she headed for the shore, Uma trying to express her infinite wisdom to Evie and Mal. Audrey really wasn’t so pleased with Uma’s sudden declaration of herself as the boss. Audrey thought that they were all going out as equals, but Uma just had to make herself the leader.</p><p>   Audrey stepped up onto the shore and she spotted Jane standing there and examining a couple of water guns.</p><p>   “Look what I found, Audrey,” Jane offered a water gun to Audrey with a smile as she looked at a green one in her own grasp carefully.</p><p>   Audrey narrowed her eyes as she looked at the water gun and then glanced back at the pirate that was currently engrossed in conversation with Mal and Evie about what was best for teaching Mal about how to swim. Audrey’s face blossomed into an evil grin as she turned her gaze back to Jane.</p><p>   “Come on, Jane. Let’s show Uma what we found,” Audrey wickedly told her, and she led the daughter of the Fairy Godmother back into the water. They swam until they had reached deep water that was over their heads so that they had to actually swim to keep afloat. Audrey filled her water gun, and Jane followed along somewhat confusedly.</p><p>   “I thought we were showing Uma the water guns?”</p><p>   “We are. We’re showing her the shooting ends of them,” Audrey told her as she aimed the water gun and started to pull the trigger repeatedly, blasting water at the pirate.</p><p>   “Now, look here. If you’re gonna swim, you gotta listen to what I’m telling y---”</p><p>   Uma stopped as she felt water hitting her in the face. She instinctually spat into the water, holding a hand up as she tried to block what was now two streams of water blasting in her direction.</p><p>   “Hey, what the---”</p><p>   Audrey cackled madly, shooting at the girls the best that she could from her position in the deep water. She blasted them quickly, and Evie immediately held up her arms, trying to defend herself from the spray at least a little. Jane was with Audrey, laughing joyfully as she shot at Uma as well. But Jane wasn’t nearly as determined to soak them as Audrey was.</p><p>   “Take that, boss!!!” Audrey laughed somewhat insanely, and Mal shook her head as she tried to get out of the line of fire.</p><p>   Mal immediately made a mad dash for the shoreline.</p><p>   “Don’t you dare shoot me!” Mal screeched, running as fast as she could considering the water was so significantly slowing her down.</p><p>   Uma was hiding behind Evie for a moment before her eyes gained a new determination. The pirate then dove beneath the water’s surface, heading for the pink princess.</p><p>   Audrey, aiming her gun downward, looked around for Uma in the midst of her warfare.</p><p>   Uma then suddenly lunged for Audrey as she jumped out of the water, wrapping an arm around Audrey’s neck and attempting to pull her down into the water to successfully dunk her. Audrey immediately started to fight her, and Jane started to giggle madly at the pink princess’s expense.</p><p>   Evie watched the two of them interestedly, and slowly, a giant grin spread across her face. The entire game looked like it would be great fun. After all, it wasn’t harmful outside of perhaps a little bit of water snorted into one’s nose.</p><p>    And as Evie watched Uma and Audrey fight each other, neither of them winning, Evie found that she really wanted to try it herself. Evie tilted her head slightly, and flashed an inviting look to Mal, hoping the faerie would accompany her.</p><p>   Mal simply shook her head, not wanting to participate in this activity in the least as she stood there on the shore, breathing hard and dripping wet. Evie just offered Mal a pout, but ultimately decided that she wouldn’t push the other girl to come with her further into the water. After all, Audrey’s water gunning had scared the girl greatly.</p><p>   Evie turned her attentions back to the two warring girls and Evie formulated a particularly interesting plan as she grinned wickedly. Evie thought it would be very shocking to Audrey and Uma if Evie sneaked behind them and dunked them both successfully. Evie would both win the game and she would also earn their respect, showing them that she really could swim.</p><p>   So Evie determinedly set out for Uma and Audrey, the two girls scrambling through the water as they tried to win their battle of the wills.</p><p>   Evie waded out further, and she noticed that the water level was starting to raise to her chest. Evie nevertheless pushed ahead, despite her slight trepidation surrounding getting to water that might be over her head. She just decided that she’d remember what Audrey had told her, despite how little it had been.</p><p>   Evie pushed through the water further, and she noticed that the water didn’t seem to be getting any deeper. She smiled to herself, knowing that she had it under control now.</p><p>   However, her next step sent her into a much deeper area than she had ever expected to end up in. One moment she was watching Uma and Audrey fighting, and the next moment, all she saw was blackness as she was swept under the water.</p><p>   Immediately, Mal stood up on the shore, her eyes widened as she gaped at the spot that Evie had just been.</p><p>   “Oh, no! EVIE!!!” Mal screamed before sprinting into the water, taking off through it as if she were gliding through the wetness.</p><p>   Almost as if by magic, all of the steps that Uma had taught her came flooding her mind, and she immediately put them to good use. She was not going to let Evie drown.</p><p>   “EVIE!!!” Mal yelled, rushing through the water as she extended her arms and kicked her legs.</p><p>   While Mal was attempting to get Evie, Uma and Audrey were fighting each other intently, trying desperately to drag the other down into the water in a battle of the wills.</p><p>   “Would you stop?!” Audrey questioned, but there was a hint of laughter in her voice as she grappled with the pirate.</p><p>   “It’s your own dang fault! If you wouldn’t have came up with the wise idea to spray me, I wouldn’t have to exact revenge!” Uma exclaimed in response, chuckling somewhat breathlessly as she pushed against Audrey.</p><p>   Jane was laughing at the two of them, but she quickly paused in her enjoyment as she realized that Mal was swimming out into the water swiftly and screaming Evie’s name as she looked at the water desperately. It immediately occurred to Jane what had happened, and she completely freaked out, reaching over and tapping Audrey swiftly.</p><p>   “Audrey, Audrey, Audrey!!!” Jane called, hitting Audrey’s arm quickly. Audrey stopped in her wrestling finally to turn to Jane.</p><p>   “What-” Audrey was immediately cut off when Uma slammed the pink princess’s head underneath the water.</p><p>   “Ha! Gotcha! Who da boss?!” Uma hooted, laughing loudly and victoriously as Audrey reemerged. Audrey was spluttering and coughing, and she looked as if she were about to lunge for Uma, but Jane started tapping her again. Audrey then spun around to look at the girl.</p><p>   “What, Jane?!” Audrey demanded.</p><p>   “Evie’s drowning and Mal’s about to drown trying to get her!” Jane yelled, and Uma as well as Audrey quickly looked in Mal’s direction, seeing the faerie desperately attempting to dive in the water and find Evie. However, Mal kept coming back up, spitting water out between screams of Evie’s name.</p><p>   Uma immediately felt panic gripping her as she swiftly turned to the other girls in the water.</p><p>   “Audrey, go get Mal. I’ll get Evie,” Uma commanded, taking charge of the situation immediately. Audrey was somewhat afraid, but she couldn’t help but release a somewhat ill-timed sarcastic quip.</p><p>   “I thought you were the boss. Can’t you handle it?” Audrey questioned and Uma just shot her a glare as she readied herself to dive.</p><p>   “Just do it! This isn’t the time to be doing our usual!” Uma exclaimed before disappearing beneath the surface. Audrey shared a glance with Jane before starting toward Mal.</p><p>   Mal was still trying to figure out how to dive, and Audrey quickly took the girl’s shoulders in her hands as she attempted to keep the faerie under control. Audrey started to push her away back toward the surface and Mal instantaneously fought her.</p><p>   “No, Evie’s out there! EVIE!!!” Mal called desperately, and Audrey shook her head in negation.</p><p>   “Mal, come on, Uma’s getting her right now. We need to get you back on shore, so you’ll be ready to see her when Uma rescues her,” Audrey explained carefully, pulling the faerie backwards. Mal kicked viciously at the water, refusing to be moved away from her sister and best friend.</p><p>   Audrey sighed, looking around the water as she searched for signs of Uma and hopefully Evie. All was still outside of Mal’s angry thrashing and yelling.</p><p>   Until after a moment, Uma suddenly came to the surface, Evie’s head lolling somewhat as it was resting against Uma’s shoulder.</p><p>   “Mal, look!” Audrey called out, and Mal turned to look in the direction that the pink princess was pointing.</p><p>   “Evie?! EVIE!!!” Mal called before suddenly breaking out of Audrey’s grasp and swimming toward the sand where Uma was dragging Evie’s limp form.</p><p>   Mal swam through the water until the lake was not deep enough to swim through any longer. Then, she took off running, collapsing to her knees somewhat painfully on the sand where Uma had laid Evie down and was currently panicking.</p><p>   Mal immediately grabbed Evie’s cheeks in her hand, trying to make her wake up.</p><p>   “Evie, get up! Get up, Evie!” Mal cried, and Audrey and Jane were suddenly nearby as they looked down at the bluenette with her.</p><p>   Mal shook her head quickly as she squeezed Evie’s face tightly, trying to get her to awaken. Mal never thought it’d be Evie that was the one drowning or nearly doing so. It was then that she remembered Evie’s reply to Mal’s fears surrounding drowning. Evie had said that she supposedly knew CPR. Mal’s eyes widened as she realized precisely what they needed to do.</p><p>   “Do any of you know CPR?!” Mal cried, looking at the other three in pure panic. Uma glanced at Jane and Audrey blankly, and Jane quickly shook her head, fear shining her eyes.</p><p>   “I don’t know CPR! How am I supposed to know CPR?!” Audrey demanded, freaking out fully. Mal shook her head, knowing that they had to figure out something for Evie.</p><p>   “Uma?” Mal looked to the pirate desperately, and Uma’s mouth drew into a tight line as she looked at the purple-haired girl with some trepidation.</p><p>   “I know a little bit,” Uma spoke somewhat uncertainly, and Mal looked down at Evie before removing one of her hands from Evie’s cheek and gestured to Evie.</p><p>   “Well, do it! She needs help, Uma!” Mal cried, and Uma swallowed hard, immediately repulsed by the very idea of having to put her mouth on Evie’s no matter the life-saving intentions behind it.</p><p>   “Uh… Do I have to?”</p><p>   “SAVE HER LIFE!!!” Mal desperately yelped, the beginnings of tears in her eyes, and Uma quickly got down to Mal’s level, furrowing her brow as she winced.</p><p>   “Oh, boy… Here we go,” Uma spoke as she frowned leaning closer to Evie as she slowly got ready to breathe life into the other girl’s form.</p><p>   It was then that Evie’s eyelashes fluttered and her eyes opened blearily to behold Uma’s mouth coming closer to her own. Evie’s eyes widened and she scrambled back, coughing hard as she eyed Uma with horror. Mal’s face lit up with happiness as she eyed the bluenette.</p><p>   “Woah, woah, woah!!! I’m alive!!!” Evie cried, covering her mouth as she hacked. She wiped her lips hard with her hand, scared that this wasn’t the first time that Uma had attempted to help her.</p><p>   Uma fell back on her behind as she wiped at her own mouth furiously, worried that somehow Evie’s mouth germs had magically jumped onto her. Uma spat onto the ground nearby as she eyed Evie in something between disgust and relief.</p><p>   “Evie, you’re okay!” Mal sobbed happily, lunging forward and wrapping her arms around the bluenette’s neck as her shoulders shook in an expression of all of her fear and worry.</p><p>   Evie wasted no time in hugging Mal back. However, she did stare at Uma in some horror.</p><p>   “That was nasty!” Uma coughed, shaking her head in repulsion and Evie nodded in agreement.</p><p>   Evie stroked the back of Mal’s head comfortingly with a hand, and she grinned a bit, relieved that she was alive but still reeling at the fact that Uma had actually planned to perform CPR on her.</p><p>   “M, we need to teach you CPR,” Evie commented, speaking softly, and Mal couldn’t help but laugh at the girl.</p><p>   “What was wrong with me doing it?”</p><p>   “Oh, trust me, I don’t want any of your mouths on mine, but I really didn’t want yours because of fish lips,” Evie spoke somewhat awkwardly in the midst of her honesty. She was completely out of it, and she was not fully in control of her filtering from mind to mouth.</p><p>   “Don’t you mean squid lips?” Audrey suggested, and everyone laughed. Even Uma had to chuckle about it a little.</p><p>   Uma breathed out heavily, smiling contentedly as Evie wiped Mal’s tears away gently and Audrey as well as Jane were calming down.</p><p>   “Well… it’s a good thing that I’m the boss. Otherwise, she’d be drowned and Mal would be floundering through the water still,” Uma commented, unable to resist prodding at Audrey a little. Especially since they had just undergone such a stressful situation.</p><p>   Audrey’s eyes went wide as she spun to face the pirate.</p><p>   “Excuse me, but who was the one that said she needed my help?!” Audrey screeched, and immediately, Audrey launched into another bout of fussing as she had when Uma first proclaimed herself as the leader.</p><p>   Evie and Mal just shook their heads slightly, and Evie looked back at the faerie affectionately. Mal smiled slightly as she eyed Evie.</p><p>   “You were right, E,” Mal admitted, and Evie sweetly gazed at Mal, her warm brown eyes conveying only the softest of emotion.</p><p>   “Yeah?”</p><p>   “I did need to know how to swim,” Mal continued.</p><p>   “And now you know,” Evie pointed out as she squeezed Mal a bit. Mal rested her head on Evie’s shoulder carefully as the bluenette held herself up in a sitting position on the sand.</p><p>   “How do you feel now?” Evie asked, and Mal pursed her lips slightly as she looked out at the water somewhat skeptically.</p><p>   “I and especially you are not getting near water ever again,” Mal spoke, and Evie just laughed joyfully, pressing her forehead against the side of Mal’s head.</p><p>   Mal had successfully accomplished precisely what she had not originally aimed to do in the first place. It took her best friend nearly drowning, a pirate’s instruction, a fairy’s discovery of water guns, and a pink princess’s usage of those said water guns, but she had done it.</p><p>   And she couldn’t have been gladder to have this band of misfits by her side through it all.</p>
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